A person is liable for the intentional tort of “assault” if (1) he/she acts intending to cause a harmful or offensive contact with the person of another or a third person, or an imminent apprehension of such a contact; and, (2) the other person is thereby put in such imminent apprehension. An act intended to cause […]
Category: Torts Law
Ybarra v. Spangard
25 Cal.2d 486 (1944) One-Sentence Takeaway: The California Supreme Court applied res ipsa loquitur to hold that a patient who suffered an injury while unconscious during surgery could sue all doctors and hospital employees involved without specifying which one was negligent, shifting the burden to defendants to explain the injury. Summary: This case presents the […]
Winterbottom v. Wright
152 Eng. Rep. 402 (Ex. 1842). One-Sentence Takeaway: Under the traditional common law rules (later abandoned by the courts), there was no liability on the part of a negligent manufacturer to another in the absence of privity. Summary: Defendant contracted with the Postmaster-General to supply, and to maintain in safe working order, coaches to carry the mail. […]
Whittaker v. Sanford
85 A. 399 (Me. 1912) A seminal case on the intentional tort of false imprisonment. Defendant was a leader of a religious sect to which Plaintiff belonged as a member. After Plaintiff expressed her desire to leave the sect, Defendant offered to Plaintiff and her children passage aboard his yacht and, in response to her expressed […]
Assault
The intentional tort of assault is an act intended to cause apprehension of an imminent harmful or offensive contact, which directly or indirectly causes reasonable apprehension of such contact. Apprehension The interest protected by the tort of assault is freedom from reasonable apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive contact. This aspect of the claim thus […]
Zimmerman v. Ausland
266 Or. 427, 513 P.2d 1167 (1973) One-Sentence Takeaway: The plaintiff in a personal injury case cannot claim damages for what would otherwise be a permanent injury if the permanency of the injury could have been avoided by submitting to treatment by a physician, including possible surgery, when a reasonable person would do so under […]
Zaslow v. Kroenert
29 Cal.2d 541 (1946) One-Sentence Takeaway: One rightfully in possession of real property is not guilty of conversion because he places goods of another thereon in storage, where he does not otherwise exert any dominion over the personal property in denial of or inconsistent with the owner’s rights. SUMMARY An important torts law case that […]
Alienation of Affections
Torts. A seldom used tort which provides that a person could be held liable to a husband or a wife if he or she caused that spouse’s partner to lose affection for the spouse. This tort has been abolished in majority of the states in the United States. See, e.g., Helsel v. Noellsch, 107 S.W.3d 231 (Mo. […]
Active Negligence
The term “active negligence” refers to negligence which results from an affirmative act (e.g., driving into a parked car). Compare with “passive negligence”
Bethel v. New York City Transit Authority
92 N.Y.2d 348 (1998). One-Sentence Takeaway: The standard of care applicable to common carriers is the same as that applied to any other potential tortfeasor – reasonable care under all of the circumstances of the particular case. Summary: Plaintiff was injured on Defendant’s bus when the wheelchair accessible seat collapsed under him. Plaintiff could not […]
Bashi v. Wodarz
45 Cal. App. 4th 1314 (1996). One-Sentence Takeaway: The rule that a driver is not chargeable with negligence when he or she is suddenly stricken by a physical illness that he or she had no reason to anticipate, rendering him or her unconscious, does not extend to mental illnesses. Summary: Defendant rear-ended one vehicle and […]
Barton v. Bee Line, Inc.
265 N.Y.S. 284 (1933) One-Sentence Takeaway: The New York Appellate Division reversed a trial court’s jury instruction that held a common carrier strictly liable for a chauffeur’s alleged rape of a 15-year-old passenger under a penal statute criminalizing consensual intercourse with a minor, ruling that such civil liability cannot be imposed absent proof of non-consent […]
Bartolone v. Jeckovich
481 N.Y.S. 2d 545 (1984). One-Sentence Summary: The court held that a plaintiff who suffered a psychotic breakdown following an automobile collision could recover for aggravation of a pre-existing schizophrenic illness caused by the collision. Summary: Plaintiff, whose mother died of cancer when he was very young, had grown up to be reclusive “control freak” who was […]
Andrews v. United Airlines
24 F.3d 39 (9th Cir. 1994). Plaintiff was a passenger in Defendant’s airline and was injured when a briefcase fell from the overhead compartment. Plaintiff did not allege that one of Defendant’s agents had opened the overhead compartment. Instead, he alleged that it was foreseeable that luggage could fall and Defendant did not take proper […]
American Motorcycle Association v. Superior Court
20 Cal. 3d 578 (1978). One-Sentence Takeaway: The doctrine of comparative negligence extends to multiple tortfeasors, allowing for partial indemnity apportioned according to each party’s degree of fault while preserving joint and several liability for plaintiffs’ full recovery. Summary: This seminal case is the first where a court adopted comparative fault theory for apportionment of […]
Alcorn v. Mitchell
63 Ill. 553 (1872) After a trial for trespass, Defendant spit in Plaintiff’s face. Plaintiff sued Defendant for battery and the trial court rendered a judgment of $1,000 for Plaintiff. Defendant appealed the judgment on the grounds that the judgment was excessive. The issue presented to the court of appeal was whether punitive damages can […]
Alcorn v. Anbro Engineering, Inc.
2 Cal. 3d 493 (1970) One-Sentence Takeaway: While mere insulting language generally is not sufficient to plead outrageous conduct for an intentional infliction of emotional distress cause of action, the aggravated circumstances alleged by plaintiff were sufficient to uphold his complaint as against defendants’ general demurrer. Summary: Plaintiff, an African American, was a black truck […]
Adams v. Bullock
227 N.Y. 208 (1919). One-Sentence Takeaway: Defendant not liable for alleged negligence in the absence of any evidence that reasonable precautions had not been taken against injury from trolley wire. Summary: A 12-year-old boy swung a wire off of a bridge and it hit the trolley lines that Defendant ran and it electrocuted the boy. […]
Abatement
The term “abatement” refers to the reduction in some amount that is owed, generally granted by the individual or entity to whom a debt is owed—e.g., a landlord granting abatement to the tenant in the amount of the rent owed. The term “abatement” may also be used in estate planning documents to reduce the amount […]